Putin closes G8 summit, insists “All the aims which we had set ourselves have been achieved.”

By Brendan Smith
brendansmith@transworldnews.com

Monday brought to a close the annual G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. The three day affair brought together the leaders of the eight major industrialized nations to discuss international problems and create a shared voice in solving those issues. Heavily shaped by the recent events involving the Middle East, nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea and the terrorist bombings in India, leaders from Canada, Italy, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, Russia and the United States were forced to deal with what appears to be an increasingly volatile world. 

Although the leaders did come to declarations concerning the fight against infectious diseases (specifically HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria) and adopted higher teaching standards aimed at math, science and technology, Vladimir Putin found himself hosting a summit centered on aggression.

The growing concern with Iran and their pursuit of nuclear weapons led to the Group of Eight’s declaration that they are 'seriously concerned' about the implications of Iran’s advanced nuclear program. They said Iran should "react positively to the concrete" incentives that have been offered to them, namely aid in their pursuit of civilian nuclear technology and economic incentives. The Group of Eight endorsed a decision to send the standoff to the U.N. Security Council on the final day of the summit.

North Korea’s decision to test fire seven missiles in early July drew a strong reaction from the leaders. They condemned the launches and declared them to be "jeopardizing peace, stability and security in the region and beyond." The G8 called for North Korea to return to the six-nation talks on their nuclear program. North Korea left those talks in November as a result of sanctions the U.S. placed on them for piracy and drug trafficking.

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Saturday barring imports and exports of materials that can be used in the production of weapons of mass destruction from and to North Korea.

Terrorist attacks on India’s commuter trains led to the G8’s response, “We are united with India in our resolve to intensify efforts to fight terrorism which constitutes a threat to each of our countries, as well as to international peace and security.” The blasts that killed 182 people further drew the summit’s ire, “We are determined to continue the fight against terrorism by all legitimate means. We express our readiness to undertake all necessary measures to bring to justice perpetrators, organizers, sponsors of these and other terrorist acts, and those who incited the perpetrators to commit them.”

Violence in southern Lebanon and Northern Israel garnered the most attention at this year’s summit. The participating countries in the G8 had differing views on the conflict prior to the summit yet they came together to adopt a declaration that blamed the Middle East fighting on the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and urged Israel to exercise restraint. Both U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on an international stabilization force to bring the two sides together. Israel has said they will continue their campaign in Lebanon until kidnapped soldiers have been freed, Hezbollah ceases their attacks in Israel and Lebanese forces guard their southern border.

Unfortunately for Putin, the turbulent world atmosphere overshadowed his goal of the summit. This was to be his opportunity to highlight his country as an energy superpower. While he did have time to boast that “in proven reserves alone the Russian Federation has four times more oil and gas than all the other G8 countries together” it was clear that energy security was not the priority of this meeting. Despite this, leaders did state “We recognize the urgency of enhancing our cooperation with regard to countering terrorist and other criminal attacks on critical energy infrastructure facilities.”

Next years G8 summit will be held in Germany.

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